‘Inside the NBA’ memories: From ‘SNL’ spoofs to cookie storage, TNT show left its mark

Since 1989, “Inside the NBA” has been a constant in a frequently changing NBA broadcast landscape.

The league has gone from the NBA Finals airing on CBS when “Inside the NBA” debuted, to NBC throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, to ESPN and ABC over the last two decades. During that time, former players Kenny Smith (1998), Charles Barkley (2000) and Shaquille O’Neal (2011) joined Ernie Johnson on his postgame set to create appointment television for many basketball fans.

But reality is setting in that the 2024-25 season likely will be the final one for “Inside the NBA” in its current form after the league on Wednesday announced new TV rights deals with ESPN, NBC and Amazon Prime Video, rejecting TNT Sports’ right to match.

There may be attempts to duplicate the model and the success of “Inside the NBA,” but as other networks have shown, there is no comparison. The combination of notable games and personalities, time and space has allowed the show to be much more than premier sports programming.

To celebrate it, The Athletic staff members compiled some of our favorite moments and memories from the past three-plus decades of the show.

Barkley stars as … Shaq?

I am a huge “Saturday Night Live” fan, and I was thrilled to see “SNL” target one of my other assignment programs starting in 2009 when Will Ferrell hosted the season finale.

Kenan Thompson did a Barkley impersonation a few times, but Bill Hader added a Johnson impression for an “Inside the NBA” spoof. Barkley has hosted “SNL” four times, but few things reflect the crossover appeal of “Inside the NBA” more than his January 2012 appearance shortly after the NBA lockout ended. Thompson played Barkley, Hader played Johnson, Jay Pharoah played Smith and Barkley played … O’Neal. — Law Murray

Caught in the cookie jar

This was the night I fell in love with “Inside the NBA.” Reggie Evans grabbed Chris Kaman’s junk, Johnson said Evans got his hand caught in the cookie jar and Barkley couldn’t stop laughing as he asked Johnson where he usually stored cookies. Naturally, I lost it too, even though I was supposed to be asleep for an exam the next day.

Nobody appreciates the entertainment value of the league quite like this crew, and I always enjoy the NBA most when I get to experience it with them. — Sabreena Merchant

E.J. returns home

During the 2019 Eastern Conference finals, Johnson took a trip down memory lane, and he brought O’Neal and Barkley with him. Johnson returned to his childhood home in Milwaukee where he reconnected with current owners, Pat and Kim Johnson, and old neighbors.

“When I graduated to a bike, it was right in front of the house, and I went flying down the hill and knocked my teeth out by flying over the handlebars,” Ernie Johnson said.

The impromptu gathering turned into a block party and contained plenty of brats, which made O’Neal and Barkley happy, and beers. And there were tears from Johnson, who got emotional in his return to the Enderis Park neighborhood on North 68th Street.

Johnson and his family moved to Atlanta when the Milwaukee Braves relocated there. Johnson’s father, Ernie Sr., played for the Braves before becoming a member of the public relations staff and the team’s broadcaster. — Jeff Maillet

Steam-room tales

Barkley kept digging himself a deeper hole in my all-time favorite “Inside the NBA” moment. Smith asked Barkley where he got his bracelet, and Barkley’s response was “I got this bracelet from a guy in the steam room.” The set immediately erupted in laughter, as I’m sure many more did at home, and the avalanche was on.

From O’Neal setting up Smith to even ask that question, Barkley not being able to remember the name of the guy he got it from, Smith embellishing the story and insisting that “baby oil” was involved and Johnson trying to keep the show on track — this was comedic gold, and it had nothing to do with basketball. — James Boyd

Keep running

In 2013, “Inside the NBA” presented its Chariots of Backfire race, a sprinting competition between O’Neal, Barkley, Johnson, Smith and Chris Webber.

Four middle-aged men trying to see who could run the fastest went about as well as you’d expect. There was trash talk, a controversial start and finish and, of course, injuries (poor Charles).

I still crack up at Webber and O’Neal getting “emotional” during the medal ceremony and Smith’s refusal to accept his second-place prize. And yes, more than 10 years later, I find myself using, “Run through the tape!” as a self-motivation tactic. I’m not sure what that says about me, but I know it’s a testament to the impact “Inside the NBA” and its crew have made. — Tyler Batiste

Words can be hard

One of the best parts of “Inside The NBA” is that the panelists could all be the butts of the joke. They didn’t just laugh in unison; they genuinely enjoyed ribbing one another.

When the Toronto Raptors ended a five-year playoff drought in 2014, Barkley just could not pronounce center Jonas Valančiūnas’ name correctly. His first attempt involved the syllable “sauce,” and it never got much better. Later trying to spell it, Smith gave Barkley props for getting it “phonetically correct.” “Look at the big brain on Brad,” Barkley shot back, saying he was quoting “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.” It was “Pulp Fiction,” but whatever. Good television is good television. — Eric Koreen

Required Reading

Have a favorite memory not listed above? Let us know in the comments.

(Top photo of Shaquille O’Neal, Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley: Ethan Miller / Getty Images)